


A Shy 'Sparrow'

by PandaWritesPoorly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: "ope" - my michigander is showing, Angst, Confident Duusu, Damaged Miraculous Side Effects, Fainting, For heavy editing and revision, Gen, Important Information!, Kwami Swap, Latest Chapter Is not a Story update, Lila Rossi Lies, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is Not Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is a Mess, On Hiatus, Ope you good Mari?, Peacock Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Peacock Miraculous, Regarding this story and its future!, See 'chapter' five!, Side Effects of a Broken Miraculous, Tags May Change, The Class Stands With Marinette, not my best work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaWritesPoorly/pseuds/PandaWritesPoorly
Summary: (Based on an idea that came to me at 1 am)What if a peacock miraculous holder didn't have to be blue? What if a shyer holder got the coloring of a peahen instead?Chat Noir is the sole hero of Paris. There is no cure after attacks and it only makes the attacks more stressful for everyone. When a mysterious person in brown shows up, Chat is wary. They avoid him, but he believes they may be responsible for the damage being fixed.Meanwhile, Marinette's friends worry about her dizzy spells, exhaustion and-did she just cough up blood?!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste & Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Duusu
Comments: 88
Kudos: 434
Collections: Favourites (BQuincy)





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't my best work. I liked the idea and want to get it written, but I haven't put as much time into it as With Time. I don't think I could handle having two in-depth chaptered fics at once, so this one is simpler. I may rewrite it sometime.  
> Anyways, without further ado:

Nooroo hated that he was being used in such a way. Gabriel Agreste was worthy of no miraculous, _especially_ not the butterfly.

A miraculous of change, for a man who had been stagnant since he decided he was better than his peers. Disgraceful.

Of course, the magic of the brooch keeps the Kwami from being able to stop his master. Gabriel seems rather proud of himself for ‘discovering’ that he had the ‘power’ to ‘control’ Nooroo. Pitiful fool, he fancies himself a genius because he knows not the depths of his ignorance.

Nooroo can do far more than this human thinks. For now, Nooroo hopes that handing off Duusu to Adrien will be enough. He’s a good kid, and ~~if~~ when the Guardian gets to Paris, the child can be cleansed of any… negative consequences to using a damaged miraculous.

Now all Nooroo can do is hope.

* * *

“Oof!” Marinette runs into something on her rush to get to class on time this year. She hears things fall to the floor as her bags hit the floor, spilling their contents everywhere. The girl looks up to see a blonde boy, peering down at her with curious green eyes.

Correction - she ran into _someone._

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” they crouch down, both of them picking up the various papers and school supplies that had spilled - his stuff partially mixed with hers in the crash.

“It’s fine! Neither of us were paying attention to where we were going.” Adrien reassures the stranger. She seems nice. Maybe they’ll see each around school.

Among the papers is a brooch. It isn’t his, so he slips it onto her papers, handing the messy bundle to her. She stuffs it into her bag hurriedly, turning to him questioningly.

“Are you new? I don’t think you go here, but I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.”

He grins, maybe he _can_ make a friend. It seems pretty easy. Sticking out his hand, he says, “Adrien Agreste. You’ve probably seen me on advertisements - my father is-”

“Gabriel Agreste.” she finishes with him, “That explains it. Welcome to Françoise Dupont.”

Her face grows panicked and she checks her phone hurriedly, “Oh no! I’ve got to go! It was nice to meet you! I’ll see you around!” she waves at him as she runs into the school at the same pace as earlier.

Adrien moves to follow her, but an impassive voice speaks from behind him.

“Adrien.”  
“Nathalie,” he turns, “Please, all I want-”

“Is to disobey your father’s very clear orders. If you get in the car now, we don’t have to tell him about your behaviour.”

“Nathalie-” he begins his plead, but cuts off as he notices an old man in a hawaiian shirt on the sidewalk. He’s fallen over and is reaching for his cane, which has slipped from his hands. Adrien rushes over to help the man, handing him the walking stick and waiting for him to begin walking before returning to Nathalie.

The woman and his bodyguard have blocked his path to the school’s entrance.

The model hangs his head and enters the car silently.

At least he tried.

* * *

_Much Later_

Marinette crouches on her desk chair, peeking at the computer screen where Alya’s live footage of the latest akuma. This one is the Third? Fourth? She isn’t entirely sure.

“Marinette! Don’t forget to finish that project!” her mother’s voice calls up the stairs.

Right. Right. An akuma attack is no excuse to procrastinate.

She looks over her papers. What’s that one sheet? There’s one that Marinette is pretty sure she saved from last year for this very purpose…

Right. It’s with all her stuff from the first day. She’d dumped it all in a corner of her room at lunch that day. She’d over prepared as usual and her bag was heavier than she liked.

Digging through the pile, she pauses when she sees a blue brooch slip out.

What? That’s not hers, she’s never seen it before.

She picks it up, hoping to find some marking of the owner and stumbles backward in shock when a soft blue light floats out of the jewelry.

A blue creature that resembles a peacock opens its eyes slowly, turning to the pig-tailed designer.

“Ah! A b-bird! A mouse! A b-birdmouse?!” Marinette’s eyes never leave the strange creature as she crawls backwards on her hands.

_“A mouse?! A mere, simple ‘bird’?!_ I resent that! I am a _peafowl._ I am the _queen_ of birds, and will be revered as such! I am the unequalled- _unparalleled -_ empress of feathered beings!”

“Birdmouse talks!” Marinette hasn’t broken out of her shock.

_“What did I just say?!_ Ugh, this is what happens when they don’t give me a true peafowl. Hmm.” the Kwami flits close, indifferent to Marinette’s discomfort, “What are you? A bug. That’s my guess.”

“I’m not-”  
“Which means it’s right. I know these things. If I say you’re a bug, you’re a bug.”

A loud crash comes from the computer, attracting the attention of the pair.

“Hmph. You _could_ have _told me_ that Nooroo was being misused. Goodness.”

“N-Nooroo?” Marinette’s voice is shaky, and she slowly works her way to a standing position, leaning heavily on her desk. The Kwami pins the brooch to her quickly before returning to the screen.

“Yes! Nooroo! The butterfly Kwami! See that akuma?! It isn’t supposed to be a _villain._ Honestly, humans these days!”

“Wh-What do you want m-me to do about it?!”

“Nothing.” the peafowl deadpans.

“O-Oh. B-but-”

“It’s called _sarcasm_ darling! Does _no one_ respect my inventions anymore?!”

“O-Oh. Okay.”  
 _“Ugh._ This’ll be a slow century. Listen up sweetheart, because I’ll only say this once. My name is Duusu. I am a Kwami. I grant you magical powers to transform you into a hero so that you can fight evil. You’ll look gorgeous of course - that’s just part of being me. Anyways, you can create an amok - figure that out once you’ve transformed, it’ll be instinctual - to assist you and whatever lucky soul gets to bask in your presence during your battles. Got it?”

“I th-think so?”

“Great! I _love_ first-time transformations! Makeovers are _always_ fun! The phrase is ‘spread my feathers’ and ‘fall my feathers’, now go! Come _on!_ I’m _so_ excited!”

“Sp-spread my feathers?” Marinette feels the magic wash over her. Despite her trepidation, she can’t help but admit to herself that there’s a certain giddiness at magically transforming from plain-old-Marinette to-

To-

To what exactly? She goes to the mirror and inspects herself. She’s wearing a hooded cape that shifts form a lighter to darker brown the further down it goes. The hood juts out in a sharp-ish white beak shape. A black mask sits around her eyes, though the beak makes it difficult to see her face anyways. Beneath the cape, her bodysuit is mostly white like the beak, though it is speckled with brown. Nearing the neck it is a brighter turquoise blue-green. It is here that the brooch sits, holding the cape together. Her legs are a dark brown edging on black and she wears simple boots over her feet.

It’s not bad.

The unnamed heroine exits through the trapdoor, looking around her balcony in confusion as she realizes she has no idea how to get around.

A breeze goes by, and she wants to go with it. Peacocks are birds so they must fly… right?

She leaps from the roof and giggles hysterically when instead of plummeting to her death she glides softly to the next building. She continues in this manner, getting the hang of it eventually.

It’s only when she arrives at the site of the attack that she realizes she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Chat Noir is the one who deals with this.

He doesn’t know her.

He wouldn’t trust her.

No one should trust her.

She’s just some girl playing hero.

She’ll only make things worse.

She should just go. Tell Duusu to find someone else, someone better.

“Hey! Who’re you?!” Alya’s voice carries over the rooftops and the peahen girl freezes.

She’s been spotted.

Chat Noir hears the shout, but misunderstands, “Alya, I’ve told you to stay away from the attacks! I can fill you in on the akuma afterwards if that’s what it’ll take-”

“No! Not you or him! _Them!”_ Alya directs the boy’s gaze to the rooftops, just in time to see a brown blur race away.

That’s new.

* * *

“What was that?! Running away?! Peacocks _are proud-”_

“I’m not meant to be a hero.” Marinette turns to the Kwami tearfully, “I’m sorry, you should find someone else.”

Duusu pauses. She’s used to her holders being self-assured and confident. Loud and proud. She’s had some experience with holders that aren’t a true peafowl, but any Kwami can tell you it just isn’t the same.

This girl is hers now though. At least until _Duusu_ says otherwise.

“No. If I say you’re my hero, then you’re my hero. End of story. Period. No questi-”

“But-” Marinette interrupts.

_“Period, no question marks!”_ Duusu retorts, “I said that you’re going to be a spectacular hero and that is what you’re going to be. I don’t like being wrong, so I just don’t do that.”

Marinette gives her a soft smile and Duusu puffs up her tail in pride.

“That’s it! Now you’re going to be a great hero, just you wait!”

“Is there anything else I should know?”

Duusu hesitates, ‘Well…”

The girl stiffens, “What?”

“The miraculous is… broken. Using it can be…” she hums, spinning a feather as she thinks, ”Volatile.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It’s going to drain you. Especially when you transform. Over time it might get… more severe.” at the panicked look she rushes to finish before she is ~~rudely~~ interrupted, “But I’m sure it’ll be sorted by then.”

“Okay…”

Duusu is relieved that she doesn’t ask how to fix it. The Guardian must remain a secret for now. 

This girl isn’t a true peacock - especially considering she got peahen coloring - which would typically be a relief in this case. A broken miraculous is extra draining to a chosen that meshes well with it, so Marinette would typically be a little safer. Except she’s probably a Ladybug. The Ladybug miraculous is usually the one to fix things like that and if the brooch recognizes her as a Ladybug it may drain her further in an attempt to fix itself - to no avail.

For now, there’s no sense in worrying. They’ll just have to wait and see.


	2. The First Amok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette makes her first Amok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It returns! At long last! I've sorted out what was making me not want to write, so I'm happy to report I'll be writing more than I have been (though that doesn't mean this is going to be updating as regularly as With Time though).

“There have been three akumas! Three! And you haven’t even transformed! Peacocks are meant to be seen!” Duusu looks at the girl slumped back in her desk chair. Not a true peacock, but still! Where is her pep?! Has she no spirit?!

“I’m not a peacock, Duusu,” she speaks with resigned acceptance, continuing to work on her homework and not even bothering to look towards her stunning Kwami.

“A peahen then! You can still puff your feathers! I refuse to let you continue to hide like some _treecreeper!-”_

“A what?”

“Go out there and let Paris know that you’re here and you’re the best bird there is!”

“But I don’t know how to help. I’d just get in the way. Chat Noir will be fine alone.”

“But he could be fantastic! Any situation can be better if you add a beautiful star to it! If you want to help, then use your powers!”

“I don’t know…”

“Well _I do!_ Just create an amok and use it on someone! Come on! Let’s go!” Duusu rushes toward the brooch, staring at Marinette expectantly, _“Well?!_ Spread your feathers!”

Marinette bites her lip in uncertainty, hesitating before she speaks the phrase. She feels the magic wash over her, and she can’t help but smile softly. Then she remembers her task.

She doesn’t know how to do this!

But… it’s night. No one is out, there’s no one watching. She can go out there and practice and even if she messes up, she would have tried.

That’s all Duusu is asking of her anyways.

Alright. She can do this.

The peahen heroine races across the rooftops until she finds one that seems mostly hidden. She’ll be safe here.

Sitting against a wall, she looks at her hands pondering how she’s supposed to do this.

“Alright Marinette. It’s fine. You can do this.” she breathes softly to steady her nerves. Focusing, she closes her eyes and concentrates on… something. She isn’t sure quite what it is.

A soft white feather appears in her open palms. She inspects it in surprise.

She did it! She did it!

Sort of? Next she… what does she do?

Alright, um…

She holds the feather, closing her eyes and focusing on it. She feels something stir in her, and when she opens her eyes the feather is blue.

She puts it to her brooch, still not sure if she’s done it right. Once the feather comes in contact with the miraculous she feels it. The power.

What kind of power does she want to choose? How does she even choose? She doesn’t know what she’s doing.

She exhales softly and focuses once more on her goal. To fix the damage made by akumas. Heal the city.

A large crane appears before her. It seems to be waiting for her to say something, so she pats its head awkwardly, “Uh. Go do your thing I guess?”

It nods, raising its wings and taking flight, glittery feathers fall from it as it goes, and each thing the feathers touch glows softly before it is seemingly fixed - at least that’s what it looks like.

So focused on the sentimonster, she doesn’t hear the soft footfall of someone landing on the roof.

“Who are you?”

Normally Chat wouldn’t give up the element of surprise, but he doesn’t think this is an akuma. He’d seen this person _during_ an attack, and they’re still here so they must be separate from that at the very least. Plagg had mentioned the possibility of a partner, but didn’t seem to think this person was them so Chat keeps his guard up.

The masked stranger wheels around in surprise, but doesn’t speak. They seem to begin shaking slightly, frozen in place.

Chat Noir raises his baton, ready to attack or defend based on their actions. They do neither, instead, once they recover from the shock, they turn and jump off the roof. They float to the next building and continue in this manner, running away.

He gives chase. He wants answers, and simply running won’t work. Where did that bird come from and is it a threat? Who are they and what do they want? Whose side are they on?

He is beginning to catch up when he hears a loud rattling call. The large bird from earlier is fast approaching him, feathers falling. Sneezing, he takes a moment to recover. The bird seems satisfied with its attack and returns to whatever it had been doing.

Oh well, it could have been worse. Now he has to get back to-

The person in brown is gone.

* * *

“Well! As much as I want to reiterate that _peacocks do not run,_ I will instead be my gracious self and congratulate yourself on your first amok! I’m so proud! A crane, so fitting-!” Duusu flutters all over the room, chattering away.   
“What?” Marinette is still calming down from the adrenaline of being chased.

“-Not as prestigious as us peafowls, but a bird symbolizing healing nonetheless and seeing as that was your goal - oh and I’m so excited! You’re a creative one- it’s the bug in you - so your sentimonsters will be fantastic! Oh this is so fun! I should borrow Tikki’s kids more often! Yay!”

Marinette is content to listen to the rambling, but the mention of a name piques her curiosity, “Tikki? Who’s that?”

“She’s the Ladybug Kwami. You’re definitely one of hers, but seeing as she’s not here, I have so graciously taken you in - under my wing you could say - and so now you will be the most glamorous bug to ever exist because with me at your side how could you not be!”

“I’m still not sure if I should be doing this,” the designer frowns, “Chat Noir didn’t seem too happy to see me.”

“You’re right! That was very rude of him! Peacocks should be respected and revered, not chased! I should really talk to Plagg!”

Marinette sighs, staring into her lap.

Duusu settles onto her open palms, smiling encouragingly up at the girl, “Hey, it’s okay. Not all of my peachicks had an easy start. Sometimes the world isn’t ready for your fabulousness. If you aren’t comfortable being out in the open, you can still help from the sidelines,” it’s not what she prefers, but she needs to be gentle with this one.

“Are you sure?”

“I am positive!” Duusu chirps, “Next attack, try making an amok to help during the attack. You can take your time with this!”

“Alright,” Marinette relents, “Alright, I’ll try.”

* * *

Marinette arrives at school at a pretty reasonable time. She’d been woken up a little early by her amok. Duusu had helped her take care of it - having it out 24/7 would drain on her, so they agreed she’d bring it around only after attacks.

“Hey, girl! Did you see the news?” Alya runs up to her, excited. She’s got that glint in her eye that shows up whenever she has information on Chat Noir, or just the whole Hawkmoth mess in general.

“What news?” Had Hawkmoth done something?

“Someone got footage of this giant bird fixing the city! No one knows where it came from, but people are theorizing that Chat Noir finally got a partner!” Alya is _this_ close to squealing. Another hero!

“What’s this about Chat Noir getting a partner?” Adrien asks as he and Nino join the girls.

“Yeah, that dude really deserves some help.”

“A giant bird fixed the city last night! All the damage from all the attacks!” Alya pulls up a video, spinning her phone around so they can see.

“Huh,” Adrien says, “What do you think it means?”

“Clearly it means Chat got the partner he deserves! He- OH MY GOSH, _WAIT!”_ Something occurs to Alya, and she fiddles with her phone, “At an akuma attack a while ago, I saw someone else watching the attack, and, _and - get this -_ they were bird themed! These _have_ to be connected!”

She shows them a shaky image of a brown figure on a rooftop some distance away. It isn’t the best quality, but they can all see some resemblance to a bird. Marinette winces, she hadn’t planned on Alya taking a picture of her.

 _“Dude!_ That makes sense!” Nino agrees.

“I don’t know,” Adrien is hesitant, “I’d like for Chat Noir to have a partner as much as the next guy, but…”

“...we don’t know anything about her. She could have no idea what she’s doing - that could put Paris at risk,” Marinette finishes.

“Why do ya’ think they’re a ‘she’?” Nino questions.

Marinette stiffens, “Uh, well, I, um- I just- I don’t really know! I just, uh, used the first pronouns I thought of? There’s no way to tell! Obviously!”

Alya seems to accept that, as does Nino. Adrien gives her an odd look, but seems more amused by her stammering than anything. 

Alya puts an arm around her shoulder, “Well, I guess we can only theorize for now! I’m sure we’ll find out eventually.”

“Mhm.”

* * *

Later that day, in the middle of sketching out a new design, Marinette’s phone dings with an akuma alert. Duusu notices and looks at her excitedly.

Marinette sighs, “Okay. Okay. Spread my feathers.”

The peahen heroine stands in her room, taking a moment to steady herself before she goes to the roof.

She heads in the direction of the attack, doing her best to stay out of sight. When she arrives, she sees Chat Noir already in a battle against… a Persian?

She pulls up the news on her fan, because she honestly doesn’t know what this one’s deal is.

Before she can, the big cat growls, “That wanna-be evolution will never replace Persian! Perrserker is a disgusting abomination!”

“Look, I’m as upset as you are, but-” Chat Noir tries to settle the victim, to no avail. A giant paw swipes at him, and he dodges.

“Okay. So, um. Help Chat Noir, uhhh how do I do that?” The heroine presses her hands to her face, trying to think of how an amok could help out here.

* * *

Chat Noir wasn’t expecting to deal with a giant pokemon today.

Then again, everyday is a dice toss with Hawkmoth around. Just another normal day in Paris.

That said, he’d been working under the assumption that he’d only have to deal with _one_ giant pokemon. So when the pokemon that led to this akumatization in the first place (Perrserker, he likes the pun, but purr-furs the classics), showed up he wasn’t sure what to think. Persian immediately notices, growling turning to it.

“You! You little-!” Persian immediately forgets about the hero, turning to the other pokemon.

Chat shakes off his surprise, immediately going to the akumatized object - a red ribbon around the cat’s neck. Cataclysming the akuma, he turns to the second pokemon.

It waves at him, disappearing. He frowns, running to where it had been standing.

All that’s there is a small white feather, and a pebble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this update! Thanks for being so patient, I didn't intend for it to take this long. ❤️
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](https://pandawritespoorly.tumblr.com/)! Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in the comments below! I love getting that notification!


	3. Caught On Camera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sparrow's existence is finally confirmed publicly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaah! It's been so long I'm sorry! The chapters I wrote are directly related so I didn't want to post one without the other, but somehow my mind forgot the fact that those chapters are 4 & 5, and I've only posted 1 & 2, which leaves 3 available to me to post.  
> I just realized that, and I felt bad, so I'm trying to post it now, though I've got to go somewhere quick so I'm on a bit of time crunch.

Another akuma attack over. The hooded heroine follows her usual routine at this point. She brings back her crane sentimonster, waving as it goes to fly over the city as usual. The girl floats across the rooftops as she makes her way back home. She does her best to stay out of sight.

She doesn’t see the blogger on the streets below her, camera raised.

* * *

_ Attention CatChroniclers! I have some big news! _

_ We’re all aware of the theories regarding Chat Noir’s potential partner. People have been insistent that the distractions that have been appearing during battles are the work of someone behind the scenes, despite the fact that Chat Noir insists he knows nothing about them. _

_ I myself certainly think that many of these occurrences seem almost too convenient. _

_ Well, after today’s battle, I saw a brown figure jumping away on the rooftops. I got a clear picture, and I personally think that they look like they could be a hero! _

_ Clearly they aren’t Ladybug themed, as the prevailing theory claims, but the animal theme is there! _

_ Paris, I’d like you to meet Sparrow! _

_ (Name open to change once they give me an interview 😉 ). _

“Plagg? Alya posted something about me having a partner?” Adrien calls to his Kwami cautiously. He’s not sure what to make of this.

“And? What’s new? That’s all those morons talk about on there anyways,” Plagg retorts disinterestedly from where he’s eating his camembert.

“No, like, she got a picture of some bird person jumping across the rooftops.”

“Bird person…?” Plagg floats over to sit on Adrien’s head, he reads the accompanying text quickly. “Pull up that picture, kid.”

“So, like, I know you mentioned that a Ladybug hero might join me, but is there a Sparrow miraculous…?”

“No, but…” Plagg narrows his eyes suspiciously, “Zoom in on the thing holding their cape together.”   
Adrien does as he’s told, “What is it?”

Plagg shoots forward, hovering in front of the screen before turning to Adrien seriously, “That’s the Peacock miraculous.”

“What? But I thought that was lost! And peacocks are blue!”

“I guess someone found it. Peacocks are blue, yes, but peahens aren’t. See how their neck is blue? Definitely a peafowl.”

Adrien frowns in confusion, pulling up an image of a peahen to compare the two’s coloring.

“So they’re a girl?”   
“Not necessarily, they just… don’t want to attract attention,” Plagg pauses, thinking, “Alright Kitten, there’s someone you need to meet.”

* * *

“Plagg, this better not be another cheese shop.”

“Kid, as much as I love tricking you into taking me to cheese shops, this time I’m actually taking you somewhere miraculous related,” Plagg assures his chosen.

Adrien mutters under his breath bitterly as he knocks, “If you tell me that that their cheese is a miracle I’m throwing out your camembert.”

The door opens, revealing an old man in a hawaiian shirt, “How can I help you young man?”

Adrien tries to think of a way to respond without revealing too much to this man. He’s not sure if this stranger knows about the miraculous or not.

Before he can answer, Plagg shoots out of his pocket, “Ugh, we are  _ not _ doing this whole thing. Adrien this is the Guardian of the miraculous, so you don’t have to worry about revealing things, and Fu my kitten is here because I’ve decided he’s ready and blah-de blah all that jazz.”

A turtle Kwami floats into view, “Plagg, there is nothing wrong with being cautious.”

“It always takes  _ forever _ though, we’re here because we found something important,” Plagg groans.

The Guardian (Fu, Plagg had called him?) leads them into what is presumably the main room.

“Before we begin, Adrien, I’d like to introduce myself. I am Master Fu, and, as Plagg stated, I am the Guardian of the miraculous. This is Wayzz, he is the turtle Kwami.”

“The Guardian?”

“Yes, I am in possession of every miraculous, and am in charge of distributing them as I see fit. That said, the Butterfly and Peafowl were lost long ago, so finding out that the Butterfly was in Paris was quite the relief, if only it weren’t being used for evil,” the man shakes his head regretfully.

“Actually, we found Duusu,” Plagg interrupts, “She’s in Paris too.”

“What? Where is she?” Wayzz asks excitedly, leaning closer.

Adrien pulls out his phone, showing them the photo he had saved. He passes the device to Fu so that the pair can get a closer look.

“My friend Alya posted it to her blog. She said that they were leaving the attack after the akuma was defeated,” Adrien adds, “I’m pretty sure they’ve been causing distractions during the fights and healing the damage.”

“Healing damage to that extent must be tiring. On top of assisting during akuma attacks, it is impressive that they have been able to keep out of sight,” Fu remarks.

“What should I do? Should I try and get the miraculous back?”

“No, that won’t be necessary yet. For now, they are not a substantial threat - especially in comparison to Hawkmoth. If they continue to assist you, there is no harm in allowing them to continue. Perhaps you should speak to them though.”

“I tried to once, but they ran away.”

“There’s no reason not to try again,” Wayzz comments, “It is good that you have assistance now.”

“Yeah, I want to know why you decided to send out my kid alone,” Plagg glares at the two.

“Ah, yes, that. I apologize,” Fu frowns, “I did not want to send out both of Hawkmoth’s desired miraculouses-”   
“So why not a Bug?”

“I incorrectly assumed that once Hawkmoth saw that the damage to the city was permanent, he would stop, or perhaps calm down enough to be reasoned with.”

“Yeah, ‘cause when I think of Hawkmoth, I think ‘reasonable’,” Plagg drawls.

* * *

“Nooroo?” Gabriel summons his Kwami from its hiding place, “I have some questions regarding the peacock miraculous.”

“Yes, Master?” it doesn't meet his eyes, bowing as it is supposed to.

Gabriel enlarges the image on his screen. It’s a zoomed in portion of who is supposedly a new hero. ‘Sparrow’. It looks as though they have the peacock miraculous, but that doesn’t make any sense.

_ He _ has the peacock miraculous.

“Is this the peacock miraculous?”

“It certainly looks like it, Master.”

“Explain to me how someone else has it, when I have been under the impression that it was safely locked away?” he snaps.

“Perhaps there was robbery, Master. Someone could have taken it from you. I do not know how that person got it,” it answers meekly.

“Hmm,” the man accepts this answer, “We’ll have to draw them out. I assume it is still broken, so if I can wear them out…”

He trails off, a plan forming. If he increased the amount of akuma attacks, and targeted this ‘Sparrow’ specifically, it wouldn’t be long before the side effects started getting to them. With them in a weakened state, he’d be able to retrieve it easier.

Perhaps Chat Noir would become distracted if his fellow hero began being sick, which would be even better.

Whoever this is must think they have the upper hand, having stolen a magical artifact from under his nose.

How very wrong they are.

* * *

The hooded girl quickly ducks behind a chimney, head spinning. Definitely an akuma. She’s confused, there’s usually 2-3,  _ maybe _ 4 attacks a week, but now there’s another. The last one was only 2 hours ago. What’s going on?

“Chat Noir! Sparrow! Give me your miraculous!” the akuma calls.

She frowns, murmuring to herself, “Sparrow? Who’s that?”

“You’re Sparrow,” a voice says from beside her, “Did you not know?”

She startles, which doesn’t really help her lightheadedness. Chat Noir is sitting on the roof, looking at her carefully, his face guarded.

When she recovers from her surprise, she hesitates slightly before speaking, “I-I am?”

“Yeah, Alya Césaire got a picture of you after the last battle.”

Oh. That’s probably why her phone had been blowing up. She had wanted a break after the battle and ignored it.

“Oh dear.”

“I’d like to speak with you.”

The girl can translate that - he has questions and he wants answers. It’s really only fair.

“Uh, yeah. Give me a minute,” she plucks a feather from her fan, concentrating to make it an amok. She holds it out to him slightly, “Uh, can I…?”

He looks confused, so she elaborates, “I uh, was going to make a sentimonster, to distract the akuma, but I wanted to make sure you were okay with it? I didn’t want to make you think I was threatening you...”

“I-”, he clearly hadn’t been expecting this, “Uh, okay.”

“It’s not dangerous or anything” she assures him. It’s only half a lie. It’s not dangerous to anyone but herself, seeing as using it on herself will tire her more.

She can feel the sentimonster beginning to form, but she interrupts it. She has a specific way she wants it to look, so it can’t just go the natural route.

Closing her eyes, she concentrates on the intended form. She doesn’t notice the way her hands close into tight fists, or the way she begins to sway slightly.

Chat frowns. He has expected their meeting to be odd, but this is kind of worrying.

The thing he assumes to be the sentimonster is forming slowly, taking shape in a cloud of dark bubbles eerily similar to akumatizations. It didn’t seem to be making much progress, and Sparrow seemed to be struggling? In pain? He isn’t entirely sure.

The bubbles fade, revealing a perfect copy of himself, and at the same moment Sparrow collapses.

He catches her instinctually, but before he can wonder what he’s supposed to do, her eyes open and she sits up.

“What…?”

“Are you okay?” He may be somewhat suspicious of her, but she’s still a citizen of Paris, which means she’s under his protection. She clearly isn’t entirely well.

“I- uh, yeah. Just tired,” she smiles awkwardly. He’s not convinced, but doesn't say anything, “Okay, what do you want to know?”

He frowns, “Shouldn’t we deal with the akuma first?”

“He can do it,” she gestures to the copy.

Copycat gives a two finger salute and jumps away. It’s a strange feeling.

“...Alright then?”

Chat turns to the girl, trying to think of how to go about questioning her. She sits before him stiffly, and with the social circles he grew up in, he’s well versed in the look of someone who does not want to be here. She’s fidgety, and her smile is too wide.

“So, who are you? What do you want?” He’s direct, not well versed in how to question people.

“I want to help my city. I’m not going to let Hawkmoth come after my city and not do something when I can. At first… I didn’t want to, but she wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. At this point, I wouldn’t pass this off to someone else,” she looks off to the side, thinking for a moment before continuing, “I’m not going to tell you who I am. I understand that you’re the real hero here, and I’m not going to try to replace you or steal your miraculous, but you need help, and I can’t not provide that.”

Chat Noir keeps his face emotionless, but can’t help the warmth that fills his body. It’s not often that someone is so willing to help him just to help him. People that help Adrien in shows are paid to do that, and he’s only recently made unconditional friendships.

He doesn’t comment on it, trying his best to seem like someone who knows what he’s doing. Someone in charge - a leader. “When you say ‘she’ wouldn’t take no for an answer, you mean your Kwami, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Duusu.”

“My Kwami recognized the miraculous in the picture,” he adds, seeing her confusion, then he comments “I don’t get how your Kwami could stop you from giving it up.”

“She uh- I don’t know. She just has more backbone than me I guess,” she can tell he finds her answer odd, but it’s honestly the truth.

Of course, there’s also the whole ‘slowly-dying-from-the-damage’ factor. She doesn’t want to pass that on to someone else.

“Where did you find the miraculous?” After they had talked longer, Fu had brought up the possibility that where the peacock came from could be a clue to Hawkmoth. “How did you get it?”

“In my room. It was in a pile of papers I hadn’t touched in a while-” she pauses, something occuring to her, “Actually, I’d last touched them the day the akuma attacks started.”

That strikes him as odd. Sure,  _ his _ miraculous just showed up in his room that day too, but that was because Fu gave it to him. Fu could not have given her the miraculous, and Hawkmoth certainly wouldn’t have.

“That’s… strange,” he considers his next question for a moment. It’s looking less likely that he’ll get a useful answer, “What about Nooroo?”

“Hawkmoth’s Kwami? Duusu has mentioned him before, but I don’t know where he is. I think they used to be together, but they’ve been separated, o-obviously.”

“And, just to be sure, how have you been using your miraculous to help?” He’s careful not to provide the answer in the question.

“I’ve, uh, been trying to make distractions during the attacks, or other things to maybe make it easier. I’ve been making sentimonsters to repair the damage too. Duusu says it’s because I’m a Bug, and I’m not really using it the way a natural peafowl would. Though she also says that it’s for the best in this situation. No Bug helping you, and all that.”

She avoids mentioning the fact that this extra healing  _ is _ damaging. It’s only her, so it’s worth it. This is her city, and there’s no way she’s going to let it be ruined.

He nods, accepting her story. Standing, he says, “I’m going to go deal with the akuma now, maybe we’ll talk another time.”

Sure enough, the akuma is soon defeated. As usual, she makes a sentimonster to clean up and heads home, ignoring the bone-deep exhaustion.

* * *

“Marinette! What were you  _ doing _ yesterday, you missed my biggest scoop yet!” Alya rushes up to her as soon as Marinette is on school grounds.

Feigning ignorance, Marinette responds, “Really? I just got so caught up in a project. What happened?”

Alya rolls her eyes fondly. “Oh course you did-”

“She got a pic-” Nino is cut off when Alya covers his mouth.

“My story! I got a picture of another hero! My theories were correct!”

“Congrats!” Marinette cheers.

Adrien joins them, fist bumping Nino as usual. “Yeah, congratulations, Alya!”

They make their way up the steps, but Marinette isn’t really paying attention anymore. Everything is spinning, and it’s taking all her concentration to stay upright  _ and _ walking.

She misses a step, and it all comes crashing down - or rather,  _ she _ comes crashing down.

“Mari!” Strong arms catch her before she makes contact with the ground, and she blinks a few times to clear her vision, putting her hand to her head.

“Are you alright, girl? That could have been a really bad fall!” Alya checks. Everything comes back into focus, and she sees her three friends standing around her, looking concerned. Adrien is the one holding her, and when he sees her eyes focus on him, he lets go of her carefully.

“Y-yeah. I just tripped.”

“You sure, ‘Nette? You can go t’ the nurse…” Nino assures her.

“No, I’m good.” She smiles awkwardly.

“Okay…” Adrien concedes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There!  
> I'm on [tumblr](https://pandawritespoorly.tumblr.com/)! Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in the comments below! I love getting that notification!


	4. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The side effects of a broken miraculous are beginning to catch up with Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy, it's been a while hasn't it? Well here I am! With a new chapter too! I've written more for this story, and I'm getting a better idea of how long it'll be, so I might change the chapter count to a rough estimate once I've posted this.

A month since Alya posted that picture, and things aren’t going well. The amount of attacks has almost doubled, and Marinette can’t help but feel that Hawkmoth is targeting her.

If he is, it’s working, because she’s been getting worse, fast.

Alya now shows up at the bakery to walk with her to school each day, because no one wants her to faint in the middle of the street. If Alya is absent, then Adrien or Nino will come to get her.

Her parents have been sending her to a doctor for a while now. She was prescribed something a week ago, and it’ll be starting to take effect properly around… today, actually.

She and Alya arrive at school together as usual. What isn’t usual is that for whatever reason, the school’s population is buzzing in excitement about some girl who transferred in.

“Well, she sounds interesting…” Alya remarks, unsure. The stories seem off somehow.

Marinette hums. She’s not sure about this new girl either.

Her classmates are gathered around a desk in the front. Not tightly, just all facing that way and closer than they normally would be.

“...my sprained wrist hasn’t healed properly, because- Oh! Maybe I shouldn’t tell you. Well, I guess you all seem pretty trustworthy,” the girl looks around carefully. She’s dressed in a gray romper with an orange jacket. Her hair is tied into two ponytails in the front. They resemble sausages more than anything.

It’s certainly a… unique look.

“See, I’m actually Sparrow! Chat and I are dating- Oops! We didn’t want that to be public ye-”

“I don’t believe you,” Marinette cuts in. Another wave of dizziness passes over her, and she clutches at Alya gently, swaying.

Crocodile tears come to the girl’s eyes, “H-how c-c-could you say th-that? I work so much for th-this c-c-city, and this i-i-is the th-thanks I get?”   
Marinette collapses, falling to the floor. Her classmates gasp, and several rush to help her.

“Oh, so now she’s pretending t-to be sick so that y-you’ll all believe her-” New Girl sneers.

Everyone falls silent, processing what the new girl said.

_ “What,” _ Adrien snarls. She pales, but attempts to continue.

“W-well, she c-c-clearly is jealous, and is tr-trying to discredit me, and is looking for sympathy p-points by pretending to-”

“Oh, shut it!” Alya snaps, “Mari has been sick for  _ weeks. _ I have to walk her to school everyday so that she doesn’t collapse in the street, and just because she didn’t believe your frankly outlandish tall tales, you’re saying that she’s faking it?”

“W-well no-”

“Really? Because that’s what it sounded like to me,” Adrien growls.

“I sh-should go. Jag-”

“Just leave.” Nino glares, “You aren’t welcome here.”

The girl makes her escape, and the class turns their full attention on their favorite pigtailed designer.

Max is muttering medical statistics to Rose and Juleka who are doing their best to revive her. Soon enough, she stirs, putting a hand to her head and groaning.

Both girls hug her, and Max sighs in relief.

“Maybe you should head home, Mari…” Alya hugs her.

“No, I’ll just go to the nurse first, if I need to go home, I’ll call Maman or Papa.” Marinette suggests, “You shouldn’t miss class.”

“Alright…”

After everyone wishes her well and she makes her way to the nurse. Of course, then she hears the sounds of an attack.

No break for her, huh?

Hurrying out the door of the school, she ducks into an alley to transform.

“Duusu, Spread My Feathers!”

Instead of the usual warm calming feeling of magic washing over her, it feels like searing fire. Every bone feels like it’s splintering and her muscles tense. She’s stumbling, but that is barely registered amidst the tidal wave of  _ pain _ she is drowning in. She coughs, choking on nothing as her throat struggles to function.

Her back hits a wall, and she slides to the ground, falling until she’s nothing but a limp body on the ground, spasming occasionally.

She needs to detransform. She needs to detransform  _ right this second. _

Just  _ thinking _ takes immense effort, so talking is out of the question. She’s relieved when she registers the sound of beeping from far, far away.

A voice echoes around her, something blue flying around above her, mumbling about medication.

“Wha’?” Nothing is coming into focus, but at least the pain is fading, even if she feels sore and utterly exhausted,

“I- I didn’t want to say anything, because it wasn’t completely certain to happen, but often, magic doesn’t mix well with medicine…” the blue thing chirps.

Kwami, she can barely understand French words, let alone identify… anything.

“Wha’?” Everything is swimming again, she still can’t move properly.

The blue thing rushes towards her -  _ hiding, she thinks -  _ as something dark lands in the alley.

“Good  _ Kwami, _ what happened to you Ma- Miss?”

The dark thing crouches near her, and she does her best to repeat the blue thing’s -  _ Duusu’s  _ \- words.

“...medzz...bad..reacshhun…” she manages.

“You had a bad reaction to your medication.” He -  _ Chat Noir _ \- repeats, looking for clarification.

She nods almost imperceptibly, trying to move upright but instead finds that her arms give out and she returns to the ground.

“I can take you home.” Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Uh, where do you live?”

Marinette does her best to mumble ‘bakery’ and hopes she gets the message across properly. She’s entirely spent.

Chat Noir picks her up as gently as possible, and hurries to get her home without jostling her too much. He hands her off to her parents, doing his best to explain what she’d told him.

They nod, and her Papa takes her to bed while Maman calls the doctor. It doesn’t take long for her to give in to the exhaustion, falling into a restless sleep.

She wakes up a few hours later, feeling weak and tired.

“Duusu?” She croaks. The Kwami immediately flies up to her, looking relieved that she’s awake.

“Marinette! How are you feeling?” She’s uncharacteristically uncomposed, flitting around distractedly looking over her holder.

“Just… really tired. My head hurts, I’m kind of sore…?” She holds her head, staring off in space until something occurs to her. “The akuma! I can’t leave Chat alone!”

She stands quickly trying to get to her balcony, only to fall back onto her bed, feeling shaky.

“Marinette, that was  _ hours _ ago. You aren’t well.”

“What happened?” She can’t really remember anything past transforming.

“It- I’m sorry. The miraculous uses some of your energy to transform, usually it wouldn’t be noticable, but… it’s broken. It’s trying to use your energy to heal itself, but that’s not going to work. The medication blocked that, but by transforming, you forcibly went against that… so it didn’t end well. My last chosen-” Duusu’s voice cracks, and she tears up, “Oh, Emilie, my poor little peachick…”

She shakes herself out of her mind after a moment, “Since you are younger, there was a chance that the medication wouldn’t have done anything, maybe even help, so I didn’t want to worry you…”

Marinette sighs. “It’s alright Duusu, it’s not your fault the brooch is cracked. Though, maybe I should be trying to fix it. How can I do that?”

Duusu pauses to think. This girl _ has _ proven to be very capable, and is certainly responsible. She’s ready to know about the Guardian.

“There’s a Guardian of the miraculous. They are responsible for taking care of and protecting the miraculouses. He is in Paris, that much I am sure of. He is the one who gave Chat Noir his miraculous, and he is in possession of Tikki. Together, they would be able to fix it.”

“Great!” Marinette cheers, “So just tell Chat I need to see the guardian?”

“...no. The Guardian is meant to stay a secret and it’s possible that Chat does not even know of their existence. If you were to out them, it would not look good for you. If Chat  _ does _ know, he’s probably doing his best to protect him as well, given Hawkmoth’s goal. Telling him that you have to meet with the Guardian and Tikki? It wouldn’t be a good look.”

“Especially after I missed an attack…”

Duusu nods regretfully.

“Can I make sentimonsters for searching? To try and track him down?”

“I suppose. Depending on which Kwami they are the holder of it may not be as effective, but there’s no way of telling.”

* * *

The peahen heroine is transformed, out on patrol. Her sentimonster already healed the minimal damage from the attack. She’d rested enough earlier that she feels comfortable making another.

Touching another amok to her brooch, she allows the sentimonster to take shape. A dark crow forms in front of her, waiting for instruction.

She holds her hands out to let it rest. “Find the Guardian. Find Tikki. That’s all. Do your best,” she whispers, kissing its forehead and letting it fly away.

A Cat hero in the shadows hears the words and frowns.

That’s not right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crows are predators to turtles, you know.
> 
> Did I come up with some magical nonsense as to why Marinette can't use medication for the sake of angst? Yes. Yes I did.
> 
> This story might be moving faster than you were expecting, but I never intended for it to be as long as With Time. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
> 
> Stay safe, and have a wonderful day and night! ☀️🌙


	5. *Not An Update*

I'm really sorry if I got your hopes up about an update, but this isn't that. (I always didn't like when an author did this, but Ao3 doesn't have many other ways to let update your readers on things)

It's important though, I promise! And if you're invested in the story at all, then you really should stay for a moment!

If nothing else, go to **[this link](https://surveyhero.com/c/f48cbf1a),** where you will be give a brief summary of what I'm doing, and given the option to give your input and thoughts on where this story should go.

If you have more time, then read on. I'm sorry again if you thought this was an update, but the majority of my readers are on AO3, so I needed to make sure this information reached you guys.

* * *

My Plans for A Shy 'Sparrow':

Hello all!

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that despite my plans to give A Shy ‘Sparrow’ (how I wish I could abbreviate that) a regular update schedule, I have not.

This is because I couldn’t find the inspiration to. Writing it always felt forced, not at all the way With Time was.

A few days ago, I was like ‘okay, Panda, take a step back and find the source’.

So I did that. I took a step back, and I looked at the story, and I realized that I’m not happy with it.

I started the story very quickly, I had an idea and I ran with it, and that’s great! But I also didn’t give it time to grow. All I have is a suffocated little seedling that I keep telling to become a tree.

And that’s not fair to the seedling.

I began the story, planning for it to be short, because I was in the middle of With Time. Then, by the time I had the time to write it, I had other ideas I wanted to get to. I tried to cram all my ideas for A Shy ‘Sparrow’ into it all at once, to finish quickly, and move on. But now, I realize the reason that I was more excited about those other stories was because I’d _given them the time to grow._ There was more there! It was exciting and fun! That is, believe it or not, how I originally felt about this story!

As the creator, I am in charge. If I am not satisfied with my work, then that means I’m not done with it. I have full control of what I do. No one is stopping me from fixing things.

**I am not abandoning this work.**

As of right now, **A Shy ‘Sparrow’ is officially on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time.** It will be going under heavy editing and revision to make it into a story that I am proud of calling my own, and then I will begin posting it again.

Currently, I think that the already existing chapters will be left as they are. I think it’s important to show that even if you’ve already started writing, there’s no shame in changing the story. It’s your story!! Make sure it feels that way! Besides, as an author, this feels like a moment of growth that I don’t want to erase. When updates continue, it will be a separate work on Ao3, likely marked as a reboot or similar term.

In addition!

Because I have already began posting it, this story belongs, in part, to all of you! If there is something you think I could add, or that you had hoped to see, or that you’d wondered about - _anything_ \- feel free to tell me! I make no guarantees on if I’ll use all your ideas, but **hearing your feedback will be both interesting and helpful.**

**I will not be gone during this time! _The story_ is going on hiatus _I_ am not.**

If you have any questions, let me know! All input, ideas, constructive criticism, etc, is welcome!

I have now made a survey to collect all your thoughts and such, [which you can find here](https://surveyhero.com/c/f48cbf1a). Don't hesitate to leave your thoughts and such in the comments below, though! I appreciate and read all feedback! Once again, I'd like to apologize, but there really isn't another way for me to reach my readers on AO3.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think I'll have a regular update schedule for this. It'll just be more random - whenever I end up with the inspiration to work on it. I do have a general timeline worked out though, so I do plan on getting around to finishing it eventually, it just won't be as regular as With Time.
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](https://pandawritespoorly.tumblr.com/)! Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in the comments below! I love getting that notification!


End file.
